Hartt Dance Celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month 2021
Hilda Morales, although born in NYC, grew up in Puerto Rico and started studying ballet and flamenco dancing at the Ballet de San Juan. At the age of 13 she received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet and thus began her extraordinary career in Ballet.
Ms. Morales appeared as a Principal dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet, soloist with American Ballet Theatre, and artist-in-residence with the Colorado Ballet. Her film credits include "The Turning Point” (as Sandra) directed by Herbert Ross, Mikhail Baryshnikov's televised "Nutcracker" (Chinese doll), Live from Lincoln Center Presents American Ballet Theatre's Production of the "Sleeping Beauty", "Swan Lake", and "La Bayadere". On Broadway, she starred as the Acid Queen in the ballet version of the rock opera "Tommy", choreographed by Fernand Nault of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.
Ms. Morales worked with many distinguished choreographers throughout her career including Antony Tudor, Agnes de Mille, Peter Gennaro, Ana Sokolow, Alvin Ailey, John Butler, Eugene Loring, Peter Darrel, John Neumeier, Rudolph Nureyev, Lynne Taylor-Corbet. And has performed works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, José Limón, Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan, and Jeffrey Holder.
Hilda’s expertise as a teacher of ballet has been supported through her rich experience as a performer and in ballet pedagogy teaching seminars by world renown teacher David Howard, and Susan Brooker (examiner of the Cecchetti Society and the ABT Curriculum). She is a Certified Teacher for ABT's National Training Curriculum and has taught at the ABT School, Ballet Academy East, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Hartford Ballet, and currently teaches for the BFA Dance Division at the Hartt School.
“As a child [my father] taught me to dance the bolero and la danza, which is like a waltz. It’s the typical traditional dance of Puerto Rico. He also taught me the cha-cha-cha, merengue, etc. From my mother I learned to love classical music, poetry, and Spanish/Puerto Rican literature. I spent most of the time dancing all over the house. Finally, when I turned 8 years old, my parents decided that I should start ballet lessons.”
“Antony Tudor was one of the most important people in my career, and I am thankful that I had the opportunity to experience his extraordinary personality; very proper English mixed with a very sharp cutting wit. His choreography has very intricate steps and gestural movements that convey real inner feelings; they deal with human nature and behavior.”
~ Interview in Broadway World May 12, 2014